Apparatus for packing coffee



Sept. 13, 1949. G. A. MOORE APPARATUS FOR PACKING COFFEE Original FiledJan. 25, 1941 W W rl llllllllllllll 660x" edf Patented'sept. 13, 1949APPARATUS FOR PACKING COFFEE George Arlington Moore, New York, N. Y.,as-

signor, by mesne assignments, to Shellmar Products Corporation, MountVernon, Ohio, a

corporation of Delaware Original application January 23,1941, Serial No.

375,589. Divided and this application May 17, 1944, Serial No. 536,057

3 Claims. 1

The present invention relates to an improved apparatus for packingcoffee in a flexible container, and has particular reference toproviding a compact, hermetically sealed package of coffee which willretain its shape and preserve the coffee for extensive periods of time.This is a division of my co-pending application Serial No. 375,589 filedJanuary 23, 1941, now abandoned.

A principal object of the invention is the packing of coffee in acontainer composed of an inner layer of a gas-resistant material such asrubber hydrochloride and an outer protective sheet of paper or the like,the method including the steps of loading freshly roasted coffee in thecontainer, subjecting the container to a vibratory action to partiallypack the coffee, compressing the sides of the container inwardly intoregular shape, pressing the cover portions downwardly into compactrelation with respect to the top of the body of coffee, and hermeticallysealing the coffee by the application of heat and pressure to the mouthof the container.

Another object of the invention is the packing of coffee in a containerof the type described by initially filling the container with a greatervolume of coffee than the intended volume of the final package,subjecting -the container and coffee to combined vibration andcompression, and hermetically sealing the container in compact relationwith respect to the body of coffee.

Still another objectv of the invention is the packing of coffee in acontainer of the type described by inserting the empty container in achuck having vibratory means and inwardly extensible plates or slides,exhaustingair from the container, exhausting air from a body of freshlyroasted coffee, replacing the air in the coffee and container withcarbon dioxide, dumping the coffee into the container in a volume largerthan the intended volume of the package, vibrating the coffee andcontainer to partially compact the coffee, pressing the sides of thecontainer inwardly to further compact the coffee, folding thecover-forming portions of the mouth of the bag over in compact relationwith respect to the body of coffee so as to force out excess quantitiesof carbon dioxide contained in the coil'ee and container and thereby toexclude air from entering the container during the closing operation,and heat-sealing the mouth of the container.

drochloride sheet of thermoplastic nature.

These and other objects will be observed upon Fig. 1 is a sectional viewof a. vibration and 2 compression chuck having a container positioned init;

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the container lled with a larger volumeof coffee than the intended size of the package and illustrating thevibration of the coffee;

Fig. 3 shows the folding of the cover-forming portions of the mouth ofthe container downwardly into compact relation with respect to thecoffee; p

Fig. 4 illustrates the compression of the sides of the container and theoperation of the heatsealing mechanism;

Fig. 5 discloses the final operation of sealing the mouth of thecontainer; and

Fig. 6 illustrates the formof the container after the mouth has beensealed and folded over in its nal position.

Considerable diiculty heretofore has been encountered in the packagingof coffee in flexible containers. If the coffee is packed in freshlyroasted condition in a hermetically sealed container, the coffee evolvescarbon dioxide which causes the container to become bloated. Tocompensate for this factor it has been suggested that an extra size bagbe employed, to provide room for the evolved carbon dioxide. Othersuggestions have included the packing of the coffee in vacuum. Thevacuum packing of coffee in iiexible containers has not beenparticularly satisfactory. When the coffee rst is packed in vacuum, theoutsides of the container are pressed against the coffee underatmospheric pressure to form a hard, rock-like package which seems tobeprone to develop leaks. Also, evolution of carbon dioxide by the coffeewill cause some, if not all, of the containers to become bloated,thereby providing an undesirable lack of uniformity and anunmerchantable appearance. The present invention provides for aneffective packing of freshly roasted coffee in such a manner as to avoidmany of the objections attending the prior known methods of packingcoffee.

The container indicated at I0 in Fig. l ls composed-of an inner layer IIof Pliolm, a commercially known form of transparent rubber hy- A.protective sheet of paper indicated .at l2 is laminated to the innerpellicle of transparent rubber hydrochloride. suitable construction ordesign providing a continuous, substantially hermetically sealed rubberhydrochloride inner surface. Since the form of the container does notenter into the invention,

The container may be of any.

3 save in the manner indicated, no particular container construction hasbeen shown.

The chuck I3 in which the container is positioned consists of anopen-ended casing which is somewhat larger than the container itself. Atthe top of the chuck the overhanging ledges I4 extend inwardly almostinto contact with the container.

In order to subject the container and its contents to a vibratoryaction, there is provided in the bottom of the chuck I3 a plate I5 whichis of substantially the same shape as the bottom of the container. Theplate I5 is connected to a downwardly extending lug I6. As shown in Fig.2, the lower end of the lug I6 is positioned adjacent a square lug I1mounted on the rotatable shaft I8. As the shaft I8 is rotated rapidly,the corners of the vibration lug I'I move the plate I5 upwardly and asthe corners pass the lug I6 the plate I5 drops to the bottom of thechuck I3, thereby providing a vibratory action which partially packs thecoffee in the bag I0. Each of the four sides of the chuck I3 is providedwith a side plate I8 which has an outwardly extending shaft 20 passingthrough the sides of the chuck. These shafts 20 may be moved inwardly byany suitable mechanism (not shown) to compress the container intoregular shape.

Pivotally positioned against the inner ends of two of the opposingledges I4 are the cover or top-forming plates 2l which are rotated fromthe vertical position shown in Fig. 2 into the horizontal position shownin'Fig. 4, the inner ends of the plates 2| being spaced apart slightlyas shown in Fig. 4 when in horizontal position to provide for the egressof gas from the interior of the container. n

Heat-sealing elements 22 are mounted adjacent the plates 2| and theseelements are adapted to move inwardly from the position shown in Fig. 3

4 to pack into the position shown in Fig. 2. That is, the upper level ofthe body of coffee is lowered substantially by the vibratory action andat the same time the vertical walls of the container are bulgedoutwardly.

When the vibratory action is substantially complete and has partiallycompacted the body of coiee, the cover-forming plates 2I are rotatedfrom the vertical position shown in Fig. 2 into the horizontal positionshown in Fig. 4. The v1- bratory action tends to create a turbulence inthe carbon dioxide which is above the top of the coffee in the upperextension of the container, and this action makes it possible that asmall quantity of air may get into the upper portion of the container.As the plates 2| rotate through the position shown in Fig. 3 it will beseen that the upper extensions of the container are folded over intocover-forming position and this action causes the gas in the upperportion of the container to be squeezed out of the open mouth, therebypermitting chance quantities of air in the upper portion of thecontainer from getting into the body of coffee.

The rotation of the plates 2I presses the coii'ee at the top of the bodyof coiee downwardly to exert a further compacting action upon it and tofix the upper level of the coffee for the nal package. The plates I9then are pressed inwardly from the position shown in Fig. 3 t0 theposition shown in Fig. 4, thereby further compacting the coffee andcompleting the formation of a regularly shaped package of rectangularcross-section by returning the outwardly bulged walls to their normalplanular position.

As the outer vertical walls of the container are pressed inwardly in themanner described and after the cover-forming plates 2I have been rotothe position shown in Fig. 5 after the coverforming plates have movedinto horizontal position.

An initial step in the packaging of the freshly roasted coffee includesdumping into the container I Il a loose quantity of coffee in a volumegreater than the volume ofthe nal package. The weight of the co'eecauses a slight bulging of the sides of the container I Il. Eitherbefore or after dumping the coffee into the container, both the coieeand container may be exhausted of air by a suitable vacuum exhaustion,and this then may be replaced with an inert gas such as carbon dioxide.In this arrangement, the coiee is dumped into an atmosphere of carbondioxide in the empty container I0, which tends to replace residualquantities of air which may be in the coffee by carbon dioxide. f

The air in the coiee may be replaced with carbon dioxide by initiallyloading the coiee in the bag'and then blowing carbon dioxide into thecoffee to displace the air therein upwardly. However, it is preferred todump the coffee into an atmosphere of carbon dioxide in the mannerspecilied, since this provides for a more effective replacement of theair. In exhausting the container, both the inner and outer walls of thecontainer are subjected 'to a substantially equal degree of reducedpressure in order to prevent the container from collapsing or undulyextending.

After loading the container I0 with coffee in the manner described, theshaft I8 is rotated rapidly to provide a vibratory action on the bottomof the container. This action causes the relatively large tated into theposition shown in the drawings, further quantities of carbon dioxide.pass out of the container through the restricted opening in the mouththereof. This provides equilibrium pressure between the inside andoutside of the container and is further assurance that any air which mayhave enteredthe mouth of the container will not be sealed with thecoffee.

The sealing elements 22 are provided with electric heating cartridges25-25 of known type, and are moved into sealing relation with respect tothe cover-forming extensions of the container as shown in Figs. 3, 4 and5, and sufficient heat and pressure are applied to seal the adjacentsurfaces of rubber hydrochloride together. Since the container has acontinuous inner surface of rubber hydrochloride, the pressing togetherof the coverforming extensions and the application of heat and pressurethereto provides for closure of the container Without disturbing thePliofilm-to-Pliofilm relation of the interior.

After the sealing operation is complete, the container is removed fromthe chuck and the sealed upper extension 24 is folded over adjacent thesides of the package in the manner shown in Fig. 6. It will be observedthat the finished package is of somewhat less volume than the initialvolume of the coffee 23. v

After completion of the package a `plurality of the packages areassembled and confined together in a space which prevents expansion ofthe side walls upon evolution of carbon dioxide Awithin the container.For example, the individual packages can be placed in paper boardcartons, and the cartons may be fitted into a relatively strong shipplngcase to provide a closely and loose body of coee indicated at 23 in Fig.l. 75 fittingl assembly. Such an ,assembly of containers may bedisassembled after the period Within which carbon dioxide normallydevelops in coffee, and it will be f ound that the packages are of theirorigonal shape and condition. The combined vibratory and compressionaction utilized in forming the containers is of material benefit inproviding for this retention of shape. The coffee retains its freshnessand shape and the containers may be shipped to the retailer immediatelyyafter packing.

The mechanism described herein may be changed considerably withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention as dened in the appendedclaims, and likewise may be applicable to the packing of other materialsof a granular nature.

I claim:

1. Apparatus vfor packing coiee, comprising a four Walled chuck forretaining a container of smaller dimensions, vibratory means forpartially packing granular materials held in a container positioned insaid chuck, and four movable compression plates inwardly of and inparallel relation with the respective walls of the chuck, eachcompression plate being provided with a shaft, and each of the walls ofthe chuck having an opening through which a shaft extends for shaping acontainer in the chuck by means of said compression plates.

2. Apparatus for packing coiee and the like, comprising a four walledcontainer-retaining chuck, vibratory means operable upon the bottom of acontainer in said chuck, four movable compression plates inwardly of andin parallel relation with the respective walls of the chuck, eachcompression plate being provided with a 6 shaft, each of the Walls ofthe chuck having an opening'through which a shaft extends for shaping acontainer in the chuck by means of said compression plates, andcover-folding members above said plates.

3. Apparatus for packing coffee and the like, comprising a four-Walledcontainer-retaining chuck, a vibrating plate adjacent a lower portion ofsaid chuck, four movable compression plates inwardly of and in parallelrelation with the respective walls of the chuck, each cornpression platebeing provided with a shaft, each of the walls of the chuck having anopening through Which a shaft extends for shaping a container in thechuck by means of said compression plates, cover-folding members abovesaid plates, and sealing mechanism above said members.

' GEORGE ARLINGTON MOORE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

